According to a city study, workers must earn $38 an hour to afford the median-priced Seattle condo and $50 an hour to afford the median priced in-city single-family home. (Median means half sell for more, half for less.)
But with housing prices surging ahead of wage gains, many workers can’t afford either. Among those priced out are high-school teachers, loan officers, retail salespeople and administrative specialists, the city found.
Half those who work in the city don’t live in it, noted Adrienne Quinn, director of the city’s Office of Housing. They leave when they get to the $60,000-to-$100,000 earnings level.
“They can afford to buy, but not in the city,” Quinn said.
Seattle Times: Group ponders where work force can afford to live
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